


Climb Halfway to the Stars

by waveechocave



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, being famous literally worldwide: maybe not actually super great?, date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 08:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13120215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waveechocave/pseuds/waveechocave
Summary: Taako and Kravitz head into New Phandalin for a nice date after the events of the Day of Story and Song. That turns out to be a tougher prospect than they'd planned for.Heavy themes of the deaths at Phandalin and of everyone knowing goddamned everything about you.





	Climb Halfway to the Stars

New Phandalin's an interesting place. Everything just-built, dustless, relentlessly new. Lights are strung all over the place on storefronts and across town squares, hardly a single one of them old enough to have winked out or faded; nope, they're technicolor bright as far as Taako or Kravitz can see, all down the restaurant district and out of sight.

They saunter down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, quiet enough under the darkening sky and the little plops of snow drifting down over the city. "There?" Taako asks, jostling Kravitz's shoulder with his own as he points. Small place, vines lining the entranceway, cursive font for the sign. Seems nice enough: red wine, but swish.

"Nngh, rather not," Kravitz dodges, already taking steps back down the sidewalk. Taako spares a disappointed, regretful glance back at the restaurant they're passing up, but doesn't keep it too long in mind. It ain't the only game in town by far. "In a bit of a mood for something... homier." 

"What, burgers? Pizza?"

Kravitz laughs. "Not, not–not the food, I mean," he says, "Either of those would be fine but I just thought, you know. Atmospherically." As Kravitz talks, he's trying to gesture with his hands, but hitting a roadblock. What with their fingers all interlaced. Kravitz's wrist swings forward and Taako gets tugged along, snickering. Embarrassed, Kravitz tries to stop, but Taako only swings them harder.

It catches them a few weary, irritated looks, but it also means people give them a wide berth, so whatever. Evens out. More city for them. 

"Cool, cool, cool," Taako agrees, finally, walking at a half-skip and forcing Kravitz to stumble along to keep up with the sudden spike of his good mood. "So like, a dump, a dive bar kind of situation? Diner?"

"Diner," Kravitz confirms, "if that's alright?"

It's alright, as a matter of fact, and they find a place fast enough, built out of a pristine train car shipped in for the express purpose of getting repainted to look vintage and disused, then getting fitted with barstools and a professional kitchen. It's dumb as hell. Taako's immediately, fiercely in love with it.

They get situated reading their menus, settled into the vibe of the place, when a couple on their way out accidentally thump up against them.

"Aw shoot," one of them mutters, sorry, "my bad, tripped on the air... there... oh my god." He trails off, now not apologizing anymore but staring, staring, blatant. Taako's skin's gone slightly gooseflesh, already on edge. "Taako?"

"Yuh-huh," he confirms, reaching for a napkin. "Got a pen? I'm on a _date_ , so if we can cut this quick, thank you kindly?" 

But he's got stars in their eyes. They both do. "You're _Taako_!" his companion echoes, louder now. Loud enough for the whole train car to hear. Taako's ears flatten and his jaw clenches; his spit rises sour from his guts. This, this thing, this happens more and more lately, but he's been hoping, somehow. Not here. Somehow not here. As if–

 _Somehow_ , he bites back the nerves. Clamps 'em down. Signs the napkin, sends the kids off on their way–and they're young, they are, human with barely more than half a decade on Ango. He wonders how much they'd really heard about this place's namesake. How much they'll ever remember.

New Phandalin, huh.

"I'm from a place like this, yanno," Taako offers conversationally, once their food's brought out. Tries to. He hears his casual tone ringing too hollow, though, his back and shoulders tensed against an imposition that doesn't come. The knot along his spine stays anyway. He twirls his spaghetti, spindling the noodles through the tines of his fork over and over, aimlessly.

Kravitz responds with a slight tight of his head. A curious incline forward, a leaning-in toward Taako and a prompting but cautious noise that encourages Taako to continue. Encourages, but doesn't press.

Taako glances down, mouth dry. Fork's full. Waste of his effort not to eat it. He shoves the whole twisted-up mess of pasta in and chews, slow, suddenly appreciating the ceiling until he has to swallow and has to look back down. On the heels of his evasion, Taako manages the rest of his statement, anticlimatic by now. He manages an anemic grin, insincerely apologetic. Dismissive. "Yeah. New Elfington."

"I'm not familiar," Kravitz admits. Leaves it at that, black-tipped fingers curling around the cold glass of his milkshake. 

Taako wishes he'd thought to order one too. There's this press, like gravity too heavy over his head, an overhanging weight of all the conversations this could become. On top of that, the weight of knowing that Kravitz is waiting at the branch in the road. Won't take a single step without Taako blazing the fuckin' trail. Taako's gaze darts out to the floor for a second, eyeing around for a waitress, shit, the janitor, Istus, _anybody_. When he turns back to the table, to Kravitz, it's with a last-ditch desperation that he shrugs. 

Shit. What's his deal today? Where's the emergency?

"Just a place. Don't know how to shake it down to a catchphrase for you, slick, I'm not a travel guide. But uh. The catchin' fire's the important part. S'all I mean, I guess."

"Erm." At that, Kravitz's whole façade of diplomacy kinda falters. Which, actually, it's nice, it's more Taako's speed seeing Kravitz like this. In a way, he doesn't know how to handle him all prim and proper and tied up with a bow. Taako _likes_ Kravitz loud, a little disastrous and out of his element. "I, sorry, sorry. What?"

"New Elfington! Built on the ruins of Old Elfington," he explains. The phrasing comes easy, almost like it's practiced, but still feels stale on his tongue. Huh. "Got burned down, since nobody could figure out why it was called Old Elfington."

Something in that telling of it always did appeal to Taako. Had that apocryphal je ne sais quoi, the kind of thing people just _said_. Might not be true, might not be honest, but the lie made you laugh. Made the truth unimportant, irrelevant.

Place had still burned, though. Place had burned right down.


End file.
